Her er et herlig intervju av Mike Ashley der han blant annet svarer for kritikken han har fått for å sparke Allardyce og for å ha stått sammen med Toon Army under kampene!
Dette ga meg noe positivt å tenke på etter den begredlige bortekampen mot Manure, og jeg håper Ashley klarer å opnå sin visjon for klubben!
I will run this club my way
Mike Ashley breaks Toon silence
Exclusive by Rob Beasley
MIKE ASHLEY dramatically broke his silence over the turmoil on the Toon and defiantly declared: "I had to act and now I'll do it MY way!"
Newcastle's' billionaire owner insists he is ready to step out of the background to run the club the way HE wants to from now on.
On Tuesday he will jet back from a Far East business trip to join forces with chairman Chris Mort as they strive to bring success to St James's Park.
And there will be times when he swaps his trademark Newcastle shirt and returns to civvies as he plots the way ahead in the wake of the departure of boss Sam Allardyce.
Today, in an exclusive News of the World interview, Ashley outlines his New Year vision for Newcastle including the qualities he's looking for in the club's next manager.
He said: "I want a team that will go all out to try to give Chelsea a walloping, that'll try to stuff Tottenham and that will be brave and bold enough to attack Man Utd.
"To date I have invested £250m to try and make it happen.
"And I'm not the only one who could see it wasn't working with things as they were.
"So when my chairman told me it was time for a change I knew it had to happen.
"I just knew it was time for me to become involved.
"After all I bought this club to make it a success and the harsh truth is there wasn't much prospect of that.
"I bought this club to have some fun and I wasn't having much fun at all. So I did what I should have done in the first place and decided it was time to run the club the way I wanted.
"I must admit that when I bought this club my gut instinct was to bring in my own team to run it straight away, including a new manager.
"That's no reflection on Sam, that's just the way I have always done things.
"But for once in my life I ignored my intuition and, looking back, that was a mistake.
"My instinct had never let me down in the past, in fact it's been one of my biggest strengths, one of the major reasons behind my success.
"Yet I went against that better judgement after buying Newcastle.
"Now is the time to put away my Newcastle shirt. I'm not saying I will never go back on the terraces but now I have to be in the boardroom — I have to be hands on."
Ashley was left desperately disappointed with the return on his massive investment.
A procession of poor performances, ropey results and off-field problems was a shocking reward for his massive outlay.
It was not Ashley's vision for the sleeping giants of English football.
Passion
He added: "I want a team that is going to be admired up and down the country because of our brilliant, attacking football.
"Like they did when Kevin Keegan was in charge here.
"In those days everyone in the land loved to watch Newcastle in action. I certainly did.
"And I am determined it will be like that again."
That sort of stylish, buccaneering football has only been rarely glimpsed at St James's Park this season and Ashley makes no apologies for demanding Newcastle play the way the loyal Toon Army desire.
He added:"People might mock me for that and reckon that's all pie in the sky.
"But this is a football club, remember — it's about passion, about dreams, about glory. If it's not, then why bother?
"Make no mistake I bother, I care and so I will try my hardest to make this club successful.
"And I know I don't stand alone — I stand at the head of the Toon Army.
"Remember this is a club with a real passion running through it — not least from all those Geordie fans.
"And I share that passion."
Yet Ashley has still taken a battering over events last week with Allardyce elbowed after just eight months in charge of the Magpies.
But those pundits who would have you believe Ashley's a mug punter who does not know what he is doing should beware.
After all this is a guy who built his Sports Direct business empire up from nothing.
A man who at just 41 years of age boasts a fortune of £1.6billion — put it another way that's one thousand six hundred million pounds.
Some mug, then!
Yet Ashley is big and brave enough to accept some of the blame, even though he sees positives in his controversial decision to take a back seat so far.
He explained: "My thinking was to come into Newcastle United and examine the club from every angle and from every aspect. I wanted to see how it ran, how it worked, what the staff could offer and what the supporters were all about.
"I wanted to understand what made this club tick, I wanted to find its soul.
"I have done that now and taken a lot of flak along the way.
"People have complained I have been in the background too much, not done enough. Are you sure?
"Let's get this straight. I paid £140million to buy this club.
"I've also paid off £100million worth of debt so today this club doesn't owe a buck to anyone.
"And I also gave Sam funds for new players.
"Yet I've been hammered by certain people and for what?
"Yes, wearing my Newcastle shirt and sitting with the fans.
"The critics were suggesting in some way that this was just a cheap trick that would boost sales of shirts in my own stores.
"But anyone who knows anything about Newcastle knows all the fans already have their shirts so it's all nonsense, just unbelievable.
"And do you know something? I don't regret those days with our supporters at all.
"I might own the club but they are the heartbeat and I had a lovely time with them.
"And I guarantee that you haven't seen the last of me out there with the lads and lasses.
"I will do it again from time to time. That's because among the fans he felt at home but when he sat in his own directors' box he was condemned as unconventional.
He explained: "I can't stand this self-imposed etiquette in the boardroom and directors' box.
"You're supposed to wear a suit, a shirt and tie and behave like a headmaster.
"Why? It's like one of those , snobby, snooty golf clubs where they have rules for this and that. It's nonsense and I won't go along with it.
"I want to go to football and enjoy it.
"I want to celebrate when my team scores, when my team wins.
"It's a game of drama and emotion — of highs and lows, of highlights and heartbreaks. And I want to live it.
"So from now on it's all down to me.
Dream
"I am here because I want to be here and because I want to win trophies.
"That's it — period — to get trophies in the cabinet and have a ball doing it. I can't see anything wrong with that at all.
"Buying a football club is something I've always wanted to do so it's living a dream.
"I always said I bought this club to become part of its passion.
"I'd like to think I've done that. Now I want to channel that passion into bringing success and I just can't wait until it happens."
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/1301_ashley.shtml